Tuesday, April 24 at 6:30 p.m., The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University

For more than two centuries, vaccines have protected us against many of humankind’s deadliest diseases, prevented global epidemics, and saved countless lives. Yet in recent years a debate has sprung up on the safety of vaccination, causing some parents to forgo vaccinating their children. This has led to the return of some diseases, such as whooping cough and measles, as we begin to lose our “herd” immunity.

Largent, a historian of science, and associate professor in James Madison College at Michigan State University will be speaking about his most recent book Vaccine: The Debate in Modern America, which traces parents' concerns about the potential harmful side effects of vaccines from the 1990s through modern debates over the alleged link between vaccines and autism.